I have been tinkering with electronics since I was around 10 years old. Guided in the early years by Radio Shack and Forrest M. Mims III, it wasn’t until high school in the early 90s that I really started to piece more complex circuits together. I spent all four years of high school developing many iterations of a computer-controlled robotic arm system. In college, I was an electrical engineering major for the first three years, until I decided to change direction and built a curriculum that mixed in a heavier dose of computer science. This positioned me quite well for work on embedded systems, and it’s how I’ve made my living since graduating from college.

From the early 90s to the early 2000s, I spent a lot of my free time working on electronics projects. I ended up taking a bit of an unintentional break as other interests such as mountain biking, home ownership, car racing, and motorcycles entered my life. When I did finally resurface, a lot had changed. In particular, maker culture happened. With the birth of the Arduino and other popular projects, hobby electronics suddenly seemed to be everywhere. It’s nice to be back at a time when there is a lot of interest, as many things have become so much easier and more affordable in the last decade.